"Are you absolutely sure we'll be able to do this, Luke?" I muttered, looking at him uneasily.
He nodded, concentrating on the road as he drove, "Of course. It'll be a breeze." He hummed, a smile growing on his face.
"But what if we're not home enough?"
Luke scoffed, glancing at me for just a second, "We'll be home enough. It'll be okay."
I sighed, slouching back in my seat.
"Do you not want to do this?" Luke murmured, taking control of the steering wheel with one hand, the other searching for mine. When he found it, he ran his thumb over my knuckles.
I squeezed his hand, biting my lip softly, "Of course I do. I'm just scared of messing it up.."
"You won't." Luke reassured me, leaning over to kiss my cheek when he parked, "Lets go."
We both got out of the car, then grabbed each others hands again. Luke opened the door, and immediately I felt a rush go through me.
I could remember what Luke looked like the day I met him in the pet shop, when I came in with the small, fluffy pup. When I first decided to give him the nickname "music note".
Luke smiled down at me, as if he was remembering it, too. A second later, a soft bark made him advert his eyes from mine.
"Oh, my god," He cooed, tugging me over to the source, "look, Jem."
There was an australian shepherd, like the one I brought here. I couldn't help but think it was the exact same one.
"She's cute, hey?" Someone said behind us, making both of our heads turn to the person that spoke. "She's been here for a few months, I guess. She doesn't have a name, but we've started calling her Liz."
It was a girl talking, with long chestnut hair and wide, brown eyes and her nametag read Sam with a small smiley face in front of it. She must've been new, because if she wasn't, I'm sure that she and Luke would've sparked up a friendly conversation.
Luke looked between the girl and the dog. "Thats a nice name, she looks like a Liz," He said quietly, suddenly seeming upset. His eyes looked a little sad and his lip was starting to curl. It took me a second to figure out why before I realized that was his Moms name.
"It suits her," he murmured, "I like it. What about you, Jem?" Luke said quickly, flashing me a smile as if he was trying to mask it.
I looked at him, forcing a soft smile. It was a nice name, really, and the fact that it was given to the dog that basically brought the two of us together, I felt attached, even though I haven't even spent a full hour alone with her.
"I like it," I said, squeezing his hand, "a lot."
**
Liz made herself right at home immediately. She sleeps on the end of the bed, and often wiggles up between Luke and I while we're sleeping. When I wake up, I'm greeted with an obnoxious dog panting in my face. Sometimes, its nice having her asleep on the bed with us. Other times, not so much. Sometimes we need to be alone, too.
I like knowing that my relationship with Luke isn't going to be a short, regrettable mistake. Its going somewhere, and I don't know where, but I like it. Having Liz was a solid confirmation that that was our situation, like, we're going to take care of a living animal together, you're in this for the long run.
"Jem," Luke said excitedly, jogging down the stairs. Strapped to his back was a guitar case. "I gotta go, I'll be home in like.. two hours, maybe." He murmured, rushing to the couch and kissing my forehead quickly.
I was on the couch, watching something on the tv with the blanket from our bed wrapped around me. In front of me was a bag of chips and a glass of chocolate milk. I was expecting Luke to stay home and join me on doing nothing, but clearly, that wasn't the case.
"Where are you going?" I frowned, looking up at him.
He blushed, adjusting the bag as Liz kept jumping up at him while making quiet barks that sounded a lot like she was whispering 'boof'.
"I didn't tell you?" He murmured, slowing in his steps for a bit as he laughed, probably at himself for forgetting.
I shook my head slowly, furrowing my eyebrows at him, "No, what is it? Where are you going?"
"Band practice."
//
......
ok listen
i dont even know what to say because,, this was the last chapter other than the epilogue that i still have to work on and all of that and im so sa d actually i dont know what to say so i'll leave the thanks and all of that for after the epilogue
but??? honestly i dont know if this is a good way to end this fic but i sort of liked it because it doesnt sound final
i love you guys. seriously. all of you that read this and continued to read it even when my updates were weeks late and horrible
ok what am i DOING GOODBYE see you nerds later i fuckign lvoe u guys god damn
- nemo
